This Provencal gratin is made with classic summer vegetables and makes a perfect side dish, or vegetarian main dish by adding pasta or rice.
Recipe by: Mayumi Tavalero
Cook Times
Active Prep15
Hands-On Cook5
Hands-Off Cook30
Passive0
Total Time50 minutesminutes
Recipe Serving Size8
Cooking Tools Required
Cutting board, Kitchen towels, Measuring cups and spoons, Oven, Pyrex baking dish, Saute pan, Sharp Knives, Top Stove
Ingredients
1 ½poundtomatoripe, and preferably on the vine or heirloom
¼cupextra virgin olive oilplus additional for coating the baking dish
½cuponionchopped
½teaspoondry oregano
1tablespoonItalian parsleychopped
1teaspoonKosher salt
1/3 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepperfreshly ground
2clovegarlicfinely chopped
1 ½poundzucchini sliced into discs about 1/8 inch thick
¼cupParmesan cheese
Instructions
Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cut a shallow “X” at the bottom of each tomato, reserving 1 tomato for topping. When water is boiling drop tomatoes in, moving them around for a minute or two. Take them out and drop them in ice cold water. Peel off the skins, cut in half crosswise and gently squeeze over a strainer placed on top of a cup or bowl (you may have to stir the seeds to extract all the juice). Core and roughly chop tomatoes placing them back into the bowl with juice. Slice remaining tomate and set tomatoes aside.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Place ½ the olive oil and all the onion in a saucepan set over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion until translucent, then add the chopped tomatoes with their juice and the oregano. Give it a good stir, reduce heat to a simmer, and cook for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in the parsley, salt, and pepper.
While tomatoes are cooking, place the remaining olive oil and garlic in a sauté pan, turn heat to medium high and cook the garlic until it is just barely beginning to color. Add the zucchini disks, turning to coat well, and sauté until softened. Remove from heat.
Coat a 2 quart gratin dish or other oven-to-table baking dish with a bit of olive oil. Place half the zucchini in an even layer over the bottom of the dish. Top with half the tomato mixture, then sprinkle with half the parmesan cheese. Make another layer with the remaining zucchini, topping it with the rest of the tomato mixture. Arrange the sliced tomato on top then sprinkle with the the remaining cheese.
Place the dish in the uppermost rack of the preheated oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the cheese melts and is nicely browned.
Reheating Instructions
Place in microwave and cook on high heat until heated through.